JB question

[JamesPaul]

My thoughts are a good litmus test might be the Antiquities. They were possibly something that SD always tried to keep the same. Since Ants command a little higher price, SD could forgo harder to source materials, continue using inefficient manufacturing processes, wind them on the older (and possibly less accurate) Leesonas etc.

What was the magic in those early PAFs? Some were good and some were a little less. But that might be what you want. Maybe Seth's fall in this same bucket?

Otherwise, why not go for a consistent product?

I'm just thinking like everything else. As materials have become easier or less dangerous to source, and manufacturing process has become more consistent, why not leverage that?

I'm thinking there's no conspiracy, just SD try to provide a better product if they were changing anything.

 

[JamesPaul]

I don't agree, and my guess is, over a few decades, most Custom Shop customers don't either. Buying any custom pickup is generally an unknown, but so many people on this board (including me) love their Custom Shop pickups, feel they are more than worth their price, and don't just 'throw them in a drawer'. The more I am certain of what I want, the more the CS delivers for me, and I'd have no reason to swap that out.

I might be going a bit OT here, but the SD Custom Shop delivers. They built me a Fender X-1 bridge pup which mates perfectly with the original stock X-1 in the neck of my road worn '81 Fender Lead II. I'm likely going to ask them for another to go in the bridge of my SSS Stratocaster; only because it's the best single coil I ever remember hearing. The SD Custom Shop knows what they're doing. The specs on my CS X-1 aren't 100% of the original, but the CS X-1 nails the tones!

 

[JB6464]

Whats the consensus about the early 59's vs today's version? Same difference with the old ones sounding much better or are the mostly the same?

Early 59's use a roughcast A5 magnet , new ones are A5 polished .
Also if you want a more vintage 59 tone get them unpotted , it will be close to the regular Ant's which are unpotted as well but with better top end .
You can buy the unpotted 59's at SpecialtyGuitars.com all day long without any special ordering through dealers , then put a RC A5 magnet in it and you get the vintage correct vibe without paying $160.00 for the CS to do the same thing .

 

[Lewguitar]

Early 59's use a roughcast A5 magnet , new ones are A5 polished .
Also if you want a more vintage 59 tone get them unpotted , it will be close to the regular Ant's which are unpotted as well but with better top end .
You can buy the unpotted 59's at SpecialtyGuitars.com all day long without any special ordering through dealers , then put a RC A5 magnet in it and you get the vintage correct vibe without paying $160.00 for the CS to do the same thing .

That's been my experience.

The 59 is also my favorite pickup set for experimenting with magnets.

The 59's are relatively inexpensive and if you buy them uncovered you just loosen the 4 brass screws on the bottem, push out the magnet, make sure you put the new magnet in so the polarity matches the polarity of the old one, and then see how it sounds.

The 59 sounds killer with roughcast alnico 2, alnico 3, alnico 4 or alnico 5 magnets...and each sounds very different.

One of my favorite tricks is putting an alnico 3 in the neck for a really clear sound and an alnico 2 or 5 in the bridge for my more overdriven sound.

 

[Artie]

I don't think that anyone ever addressed my comment in another thread about the "keeper" aspect of magnets. We always talk about a magnet "ageing" and getting weaker. But if a magnet spends its whole life up against pole piece and screw "keepers", isn't there the potential for more of the little magnetic domains to align themselves, and thus, the magnet gets stronger? I wonder if anyone has ever actually measured old vs new mags with a gaussmeter or Hall-effect device to see for sure?

 

[JB6464]

The 59 sounds killer with roughcast alnico 2, alnico 3, alnico 4 or alnico 5 magnets...and each sounds very different.

And if you want a hot 59B with the vintage vibe just put a RC A8 in it , it will still have the same output but it will warm the coldest guitar up asap .
You will then be real close to the Ibanez super 70 pickups that EVH used on the 1st V.H. album . :headbang:

 

[Big Mike Blues]

My bet is most of the 'changes' on these are natural weakening of the old magnets, and different supply of the newer ones.
I love old 59's and new 59's about the same. I Do magnet swaps anyway, currently run A3 bridge (80's MJ wound cuz that's what I had) and a newer neck (stock) in my my PRS guitars (one uses a jazz neck, better for that guitar, the other the 59 neck with Sat Night Special..again better for that guitar).

I may go to roughcast A5 in that guitar, we shall see, the A3 sounds really good but a touch darker than i'd like for that guitar.

People debate too much of this minutia in my opinion.

If you're gonna go Custom shop, get something cooler than just a redone 59 or JB...BroBucker, Greenie, I still wanna try an S-Deco at some point.

 

[Lewguitar]

For me it's all about finding sounds that I'm comfortable with and that make it easy for me to create music I enjoy playing.

That might be different for each and every one of us.

I might prefer one paint brush. You might prefer another.

And that's fine.

 

[beaubrummels]

I don't think that anyone ever addressed my comment in another thread about the "keeper" aspect of magnets. We always talk about a magnet "ageing" and getting weaker. But if a magnet spends its whole life up against pole piece and screw "keepers", isn't there the potential for more of the little magnetic domains to align themselves, and thus, the magnet gets stronger? I wonder if anyone has ever actually measured old vs new mags with a gaussmeter or Hall-effect device to see for sure?

I don't have THE answer, but it's an intereseting question. My thinking would be if the keeper could be magnetized, then the field could grow stronger until the keeper is fully magnetized. If the keeper and other parts cannot become magnetized, then it can only continue on conducting the field that is already there.

 

[Artie]

I don't have THE answer, but it's an interesting question. My thinking would be if the keeper could be magnetized, then the field could grow stronger until the keeper is fully magnetized. If the keeper and other parts cannot become magnetized, then it can only continue on conducting the field that is already there.

I wasn't even considering that aspect of it. But I'm pretty sure that both the poles and screws can be become magnetized. Which leads even more credence to the "magnet gets stronger" argument. Wish I had a good gaussmeter.

It may also depend on whether or not pickup mags are anisotropic or just isotropic. I'm not sure which they are.

BTW, here's a great magnet info resource. Click over on the right "Help and Advice." The FAQ and the Glossary are good.

https://us.first4magnets.com

 

[jeremy]

we call them oriented and unoriented round here, dont be gettin all fancy on us

 

[Demanic]

For me it's all about finding sounds that I'm comfortable with and that make it easy for me to create music I enjoy playing.

That might be different for each and every one of us.

I might prefer one paint brush. You might prefer another.

And that's fine.

Bravo!
No "might" about it though.
If everyone liked the same thing, and sounded the same, that would be hellishly boring.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Artie]

we call them oriented and unoriented round here, dont be gettin all fancy on us

I virtually copy and pasted that. Good info. How does "roughcast" fit into the mix?

 

[beaubrummels]

we call them oriented and unoriented round here, dont be gettin all fancy on us

So now we have to discuss roughcast unoriented keeper bars?

 

[Artie]

So now we have to discuss roughcast unoriented keeper bars?

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[jeremy]

you dont know tone until youve used rough cut maple spacers